Loss of transposon control in shu knockdowns is a consequence of piRNA loss. (A) The heat map displays changes in piRNA abundance for each germline knockdown (as indicated) for the 75 elements most heavily targeted in our strain. Sense and antisense, with respect to the transposon coding strand, are quantified separately (gray heat maps), and their ratio is also indicated (red-blue heat map). (B) For three transposons, piRNAs are plotted along the length of the consensus sequence (upper) and a histogram of overlap between sense and antisense species (lower) is presented to indicate the degree of ping-pong (arrow highlights peak at position 9). Data are presented for shu and piwi knockdown and for a control (white). Two transposons with strong expression in the germline, Rt1b and roo (top and middle), are shown in comparison to a somatically biased element, ZAM. Since knockdown is germline specific, ZAM piRNAs are unaffected.
